I’ve always loved Nashville. Even during my years in Oxford, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia neither felt as much like home as Nashville. Until this weekend I thought that was because it was familiar, family-filled, and wrought with character. This weekend, when a 500-year flood brought devastation to our town, I learned what it is about Nashville that makes it so special. Nashville is a community in the truest sense of the word. In a time when Community means everything from Facebook to a sitcom on NBC, it’s easy to lose sight of what a community really is and how valuable living in a real one can be. But Nashville has not forgotten and it’s a very beautiful thing.

Nashville is in a world of hurt right now. My little corner of the world that I so lovingly write about on this blog is blessedly in-tact despite this scene that played out Saturday literally in front of my very own home (on the left is the street in front of our house and on the right our neighbor’s home on the downhill side of our creek).

But I have friends, family, fellow church members, and even close neighbors who are in a state of disarray that they never dreamed possible in their lifetimes. This isn’t the kind of flood that hit only homes perched on riversides. This flood moved entire homes completely on dry land off their foundations and down the street.  It tore the ashalt off of roads who previously had seen only a gentle bath from a storm drain. It filled thousands of cars with murky, muddy water. Grocery stores, banks, small businesses, and restaurants are still (3 days after the rain stopped) waiting for the waters to recede so they can pick up the pieces. Historic and important tourist (read economic) resources like the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland Hotel, 2nd Avenue, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Titans Stadium, Bridgestone Arena, and countless others have sustained millions of dollars in damage. The submerged stage of the Grand Ole Opry hits Nashvillians particularly hard since it’s the same circle of wood where so many great musicians have been both discovered and made, even back to the days when the Opry was at the Ryman Auditorium (they moved the wood from the stage out to the new Opryland location when it was built).

(pic courtesy Matthew Daniel via Facebook)

My own father had to rescue a friend’s daughter, her husband, and her 2 kids from their home in his fishing boat. This is the real deal. It’s depressing to see a city that I love so dearly in such devastation.

But what is indescribably uplifting is the fact that Nashville has once again proven herself as one of the most graceful and lovely cities of the South thanks to a true sense of community. As so many others have said, we’re seeing little in the way of national news coverage (given the magnitude of the situation) in part because there is no rioting in the streets, no looting to speak of, no complaining about our metro government’s inability to help those in need. Instead, neighbors are helping neighbors, congregations are helping congregations, and little by little Nashville is picking up the pieces and making ourselves whole again.

Here are just a few things I have witnessed:

- Hart Ace Hardware sending out social media messages asking if there are special order items that they can bring in via truck to assist people in their clean up efforts when just days ago this was the scene from just a few doors down:

(Photo courtesy Ann Ripley)

- Our own neighborhood association email listserv has transformed into a trading platform for fans, de-humidifiers, hoses, piping, sump pumps, and just plain help (and I’m very proud of my very own husband who helped to keep that rotation like a well-oiled machine).

- The Gordon Jewish Community Center so overflowing with donations of food, clothes, towels and toiletries that they have asked that donations stop. They have set up one of their halls like a grocery store and they are inviting anyone in who needs assistance, not just those staying at the shelter, to pick up supplies and basic necessities. If you know anyone in need, they are at 801 Percy Warner Blvd.

- Woodmont Christian Church’s Mobile Loaves and Fishes operation served over 1,500 meals yesterday alone with donations from Kroger and Trader Joe’s and the assistance of over 300 volunteers. They have focused on serving the poor and homeless displaced by the flood as well as the individuals working to keep our one remaining water treatment plant in tact and at our Emergency Command Center and 5 disaster response information centers where affected individuals without phone, television or Internet can get information and assistance. With all of that aid going on, you can simply stop by 3605 Hillsboro Rd. at Woodmont Christian’s South Hall and volunteer your time or make a donation of any of these following items:

fresh fruit (apples, pears, oranges, clementines, bananas)
washclothes + towels
toiletry items (toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, deodorant, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, conditioner)
sandwich-sized zipper baggies
disposable to-go containers with lids
disposable oven-safe aluminum baking pans

Cousins Tallu Scott Schuyler and Margo Martin Cloniger are coordinating the efforts at Mobile Loaves and Fishes. I know them both personally and I have no doubt that their fabulous organizational skills and can-do attitudes are a large part of what is making this ministry so successful. Go volunteer alongside these smiling faces:

(stolen without permission but with gratitude from Tallu’s Facebook page)

- Hands on Nashville had registered over 7,000 volunteers in the first 2 days since the rained stopped and I’m sure there are even more volunteers registered now. They are doing an excellent job of matching volunteers to opportunities via their website but even more help will be needed. Even if you can’t volunteer this week or weekend, get on the list since clean-up will likely continue for a very long time.

- And if you are far away and you want to assist this lovely town as we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and reclaim our beautiful city, you can donate to the American Red Cross by texting REDCROSS to 90999. When you do, an automatic donation of $10.00 will be made. There will be a $10.00 charge on your monthly cell phone bill for the donation.

While it’s been horrifying to watch the devastation play out, it has been uplifting to be a part of such a generous and open-armed community. I’ve never been prouder of Nashville.